A Warning against Going to Egypt 1 WBS Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near. BSB BSB: Then all the commanders of the forces, along with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached
2 WBS And said to Jeremiah the prophet, We beseech thee, let our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us to the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us:) BSB BSB: Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the LORD your God on behalf of this entire remnant. For few of us remain of the many, as you can see with your own eyes.
3 WBS That the LORD thy God may show us the way in which we may walk, and the thing that we may do. BSB BSB: Pray that the LORD your God will tell us the way we should walk and the thing we should do.”
4 WBS Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard you ; behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you. BSB BSB: “I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will surely pray to the LORD your God as you request, and I will tell you everything that the LORD answers. I will not withhold a word from you.”
5 WBS Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us. BSB BSB: Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act upon every word that the LORD your God sends you to tell us.
6 WBS Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God. BSB BSB: Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God!”
7 WBS And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. BSB BSB: After ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah,
8 WBS Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, BSB BSB: and he summoned Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.
9 WBS And said to them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him; BSB BSB: Jeremiah told them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition:
10 WBS If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent of the evil that I have done to you. BSB BSB: ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I will relent of the disaster I have brought upon you.
11 WBS Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD; for I am with you, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. BSB BSB: Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear; do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you to save you and deliver you from him.
12 WBS And I will show mercies to you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land. BSB BSB: And I will show you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own land.’
13 WBS But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God, BSB BSB: But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and you thus disobey the voice of the LORD your God,
14 WBS Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor hunger for bread; and there will we dwell: BSB BSB: and if you say, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt and live there, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram’s horn or hunger for bread,’
15 WBS And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; BSB BSB: then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah! This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and reside there,
16 WBS Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die. BSB BSB: then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow on your heels into Egypt, and you will die there.
17 WBS So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them. BSB BSB: So all who resolve to go to Egypt to reside there will die by sword and famine and plague. Not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring upon them.’
18 WBS For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As my anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more. BSB BSB: For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and wrath were poured out on the residents of Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’
19 WBS The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day. BSB BSB: The LORD has told you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for sure that I have warned you today!
20 WBS For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me to the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us to the LORD our God; and according to all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it . BSB BSB: For you have deceived yourselves by sending me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray to the LORD our God on our behalf, and as for all that the LORD our God says, tell it to us and we will do it.’
21 WBS And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for which he hath sent me to you. BSB BSB: For I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in all He has sent me to tell you.
22 WBS Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn. BSB BSB: Now therefore, know for sure that by sword and famine and plague you will die in the place where you desire to go to reside.”